University of Pennsylvania study suggests bedbugs can transmit Chagas disease
Disclaimer: At this time there have been no proven cases of bedbugs transmitting Chagas
Researchers have known about Chagas disease for over a century, but a recent study may have identified a new carrier of the deadly disease which poses a unique risk for humans. Chagas is a parasitic disease which attacks major organs and is responsible for approximately 50,000 deaths each year, mostly in Mexico, South and Central America. Now, a report published Nov. 17, 2014 in the American Journal ofTropical Medicine and Hygiene indicates that the disease, which is also known as American Sleeping Sickness, may potentially have a new form of transmission via bedbugs (Cimex Lectularius).
Researchers have known about Chagas disease for over a century, but a recent study may have identified a new carrier of the deadly disease which poses a unique risk for humans. Chagas is a parasitic disease which attacks major organs and is responsible for approximately 50,000 deaths each year, mostly in Mexico, South and Central America. Now, a report published Nov. 17, 2014 in the American Journal ofTropical Medicine and Hygiene indicates that the disease, which is also known as American Sleeping Sickness, may potentially have a new form of transmission via bedbugs (Cimex Lectularius).
The study is a result of a joint project between the
University of Pennsylvania and a major medical school in Peru, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. The study looked at the possibility of Chagas disease
being acquired by bedbugs through contact with mice. Prior to the study,
researchers had believed that Chagas was only transmittable through the fecal
matter of its primary vector, commonly referred to as the “Kissing Bug”. This
new research proves that just like the kissing bug, bedbugs can also transmit
the protozoan parasite through its feces. Trypanosoma cruzi,
or T. cruzi as it is more frequently called, is the parasite which actually causes
Chagas disease.
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| 6 life stages of Triatomine-"Kissing Bug" Photo courtesy of Thierry Heger |
About Chagas disease
Chagas disease gets its name from its discoverer, Dr. Carlos
Chagas, who first discovered the disease back in 1909. Chagas was a Brazilian
scientist, clinician and researcher with a field of practice primarily focused on improving
sanitary conditions and studying bacteria. For most of his life Dr. Chagas
worked at the Oswaldo Cruz Institute in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In 1909, the Oswaldo Cruz Institute sent Dr. Chagas to
investigate an outbreak of malaria which was hampering the construction of a
new railroad through a remote area of Brazil covered with thick forests and
jungles. Dr. Chagas arrived at a small city called Lassance near the São
Francisco River in the Amazon and began searching for the cause of what was responsible
for killing those railroad workers.
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| Dr. Carlos Chagas at the Oswaldo Cruz Institute Rio de Janerio, Brazil |
Over a period of two years Dr. Chagas observed the lifestyles
and living habits of local people. Many people were living in ramshackle tin
roofed hovels or in temporary camps which used canvas tents set up next to the railroad tracks as primary
shelters. He soon discovered a bug which he suspected had something to do with
what was causing sleeping sickness among the locals and railroad workers.
Locals had many names
for the bug. They called it the “Assassin Bug” or “the Barber”, primarily
because the bug had a habit of feeding on the faces of its hosts, usually at
night. Today, most people refer to that insect either as the “Kissing Bug” or
Triatomine. Dr. Chagas eventually discovered the link between the bug and its
victims by examining the bug’s feces and the blood of a sick three-year-old
girl.
Dr. Michael Z. Levy of the University of Pennsylvania’s
Perelman School of Medicine, credits Dr. Chaga’s intuition about suspecting the
kissing bug as a possible vector, noting that over 100 years ago Chagas located
the parasite in the bug long before actually seeing a single case of the
disease. Eventually, Dr. Chagas saw a flagellate protozoa under his microscope
in samples of the girl’s blood which were identical to ones found in the feces
of the kissing bug. He named the parasite after his mentor Oswaldo Cruz, hence the
modern name for the parasite; Trypanosoma cruzi.
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| T.Cruzi Protozoa Photo courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
A deadly protozoa
Dr. Chagas believed that armadillos were the natural “reservoir”
for the parasite. He suspected that kissing bugs were primarily feeding on
their armadillo hosts while also occasionally biting humans and thus transmitting
T. cruzi. Today, we know that kissing
bugs feed on a wide variety of mammals including opossums, raccoons, wood rats,
mice, dogs and etc.
According to the Chagas Disease Foundation, the T.cruzi parasite affects about 20
million people in Mexico, Central and South America. The Foundation says that
the disease is especially prone to affect younger people and those living in
rural or semi-rural areas. Those factors make it exceptionally deadly amongst
people living in impoverished areas.
Transmission of the parasite
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| Debris of temporary immigrant camp near the Arizona-Mexico border Perfect breeding ground for the Kissing Bug Photo courtesy: of Lance Altherr |
The U. S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention says that approximately 8 Million people have
Chagas disease throughout Mexico, Central America, and South America. The CDC
also estimates that as many as 300,000 cases of Chagas could be in the U.S.
today. According to the CDC, many people who have been infected with Chagas are
unaware that they are carrying it until it becomes life-threatening. It is not
uncommon for people to actually have Chagas for many years with little or no
symptoms until heart and digestive muscle damage eventually gets noticed.
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| Where Kissing Bugs have been spotted in the U.S. Photo courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
Because of its ability to remain hidden in its hosts for
many years, Chagas is especially worrying for people receiving blood
transfusions or organ donations from infected donors. Chagas can also be
transmitted from mother to child through birth or via breast-feeding.
A typical transmission of T.cruzi involving a kissing bug and human usually begins at night.
Kissing bugs generally hide in crevices in the walls or roof of a structure by
day and then climb onto their host at nighttime while they are sleeping. The
kissing bug will then feed on its host, usually near the eye, lip or nose. As
the insect fills its body with blood from its host, the increased fluid
pressure pushes excrement from its abdomen. A sleeping person who has been
bitten may inadvertently scratch the feces into the wound site or onto their mouth.
A common indication of a kissing bug bite is known as the Romaña sign. This is expressed
as a general puffy swelling around the eye caused by scratching or rubbing the
kissing bug’s feces into the eye.
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| Romana Sign - Chagas- T.cruzi Photo courtesy: Falcultad de Medicina UNAM |
What this research means for victims of bedbugs
Arguably, the most important finding in this study centers
around the research regarding the transmission of T.cruzi between mice and bedbugs. That is because one of the
researchers from the team in Peru, who is also a veterinarian, said that mice
actively hunt bedbugs. Another Peruvian researcher, a biologist, mentioned that
T.cruzi grew exceptionally well in
the guts of the bedbugs they studied for their experiments. That combination poses
a very real chance that that bedbugs infected with T.cruzi can eventually find human hosts.
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| Hypothetical T.cruzi transmission to humans Property of Products for Peaceful Operations |
Understanding the legal concept of habitability and how it relates to this research
Throughout America most state courts handle disputes between
tenants and landlords using contract law. Those courts will often use a lease
agreement between a landlord and tenant as the standard contract on which they
will base most of their decisions. The lease agreement usually forms the
contract which memorializes an exchange of money from the tenant to the
landlord in consideration for the use of a habitable dwelling for a prescribed
period of time.
The key word here is habitable. In American contract legal
theory each contract must contain the element of “consideration” or it is not
enforceable. In other words, a landlord cannot receive money for a dwelling
which has no commercial value. Traditionally, rental properties are considered
uninhabitable when there are substantial defects within the dwelling which render
the property unsafe, or otherwise adversely affect the health of the occupants.
Some examples of habitability issues could be an apartment
with no running water, no heat during the winter, large holes in the ceiling or
roof and etc. Basically, any defect which would convince a reasonable person to
avoid paying any money for the privilege of occupancy. Courts will typically void
any contract between a landlord and tenant whenever the dwelling is determined
to be uninhabitable. In the eyes of the court, such a dwelling has no
commercial value and thus, there can be no “consideration” in the formation of
that contract. A landlord would be ordered to return the tenant’s money and any
other fees associated with that property.
Traditionally, American courts have not recognized bedbugs
as a habitability issue. Many courts allow landlords broad discretion when it comes to enforcing pest-control clauses which have been inserted into lease
agreements. Unfortunately, most tenants do not understand that they can be
harmed by signing a lease agreement which contains provisions which exclude the
landlord for pest-control liability.
This new bedbug research could potentially change
traditional notions regarding habitability. That is because bedbugs have now
been proven to be a potential vector of a deadly disease. A court must now
decide whether the presence of bedbugs represents a potential danger to the
health or safety of a prospective tenant.
Sadly, the American legal system is rigged against low-income tenants. In larger cities rental properties are often owned by large
consortiums or corporations with considerable legal power. It is not uncommon
for a group of wealthy property and real estate business owners to join together
and purchase multiple- dwelling rental properties.
Those property owners often contribute substantial donations
to the election campaigns of local judges. Those judges are therefore often
reluctant to enforce policies which might be more favorable towards tenants. Although
those judges will not openly deny most valid habitability claims, they will not
grant tenants the advantage in most bedbug cases. Unless there has been clear,
documented proof of misrepresentation by the property owner, most tenants will
not prevail in lawsuits involving bedbug claims.
Conclusion:
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| The Big Homie Joel Z. Williams Director: Products for Peaceful Operations |
Personally, I feel that it is very unlikely that bedbugs will transmit Chagas to humans. That being said, if it ever does happen you can bet that some poor tenant made ill or killed as a result of Chagas disease will be in large part because a
landlord was simply too cheap to treat a bedbug infested apartment. My hope is
that public outcry will eventually become
so strident that courts will have no choice but to recognize the presence of
bedbugs within a dwelling as something which adversely affects the health and
safety of its occupants. Until that time, please use the Williams method to apply CimeXa desiccant powder, make passive monitoring pitfalls, create Co2 bedbug traps and practice mattress and furniture encasement using
contractor’s plastic sheeting. Learn how to do that here:
